CLGS is Blogging

General Convention of the Episcopal Church

from The Rev'd Jay E. Johnson, Ph.D.
CLGS Programming and Development Director

Jay Johnson, CLGS Programming and Development Director, attended the General Convention of the Episcopal Church this past August in Minneapolis where Gene Robinson's election as bishop of New Hampshire was confirmed. In addition to his CLGS responsibilities, Jay is an Episcopal priest and associate clergy at the Church of the Good Shepherd, in Berkeley. The following are excerpts from Jay's web journal from the convention, which he sent to his congregation in Berkeley. (Remember, it's the Church of the Good Shepherd to which Jay sent these reflections; thus the references to "sheep.")

Friday, August 1: Hearings on Gene's Election

It's Friday afternoon -- do you know what your church did today?

One of the things we did was to hear our Presiding Bishop set the tone for our time together at this convention in this morning's liturgy. Here's part of what he said:

"God's care is for the whole world and we must learn to think globally. We engage God's project of reconciliation so that walls of division may be broken down and unjust structures which undermine the dignity and well being of people anywhere may be transformed. 'Out beyond ideas of wrong doing and right doing there is a field. I'll meet you there.' These words of the Islamic mystic, Rumi, invite us to encounter one another in a new place beyond our opinions and presently held points of view: the field of God's reconciling love. May we find ourselves in this field during our days together."

It has thus far been a busy day here at General Convention among delegates and bishops who apparently don't need to sleep. Meetings go late into the night and begin very early in the morning. A few stats for your contemplation: The only other U.S. convention larger than this one is the Democratic National Convention; estimated number of people attending daily Eucharist is 3,500; the number expected for the main Convention Eucharist on Sunday is 8,500.

On more substantive matters, my day began at the crack of dawn for the hearing on Gene Robinson's election as bishop. Here's how that works: Every resolution at Convention must first pass through the appropriate legislative committee for an open hearing. Then the committee decides whether to recommend the resolution for adoption or rejection and the recommendation is then considered by the full convention.

So this morning the committee on "Bishops Elect" held their hearing on Gene, which was scheduled to begin at 7:00 a.m. People were lining up to get into the hearing room by 5:30 a.m. and the place was overrun with media, television cameras and journalists in addition to the hundreds of delegates who wanted to attend. Those who wished to speak either for or against the issue had to sign up before hand and each one was given two minutes to speak. Before it all began, representatives from the Diocese of New Hampshire were given some time to speak about the process that lead them to elect Gene; it was quite moving. Even more moving was the statement offered by his daughter (Gene was previously married and has two grown children). She spoke movingly about the amicable divorce, how her mom and dad stayed committed to raising the children and loving each other even as Gene felt compelled to live with the man with whom he had fallen in love. Gene was present and was seen wiping away some tears as his daughter spoke.

Then the "pro" and "con" statements began. Everyone was very polite and respectful (we are Anglicans, after all), but also passionate. I should have expected it, but was still amazed to hear those against this election using the same old worn-out biblical arguments about sexuality, as if there had never been any critical scholarship about those issues and questions. They also spoke about the danger of breaking the unity of the church -- as if the church had never before faced difficult questions or as if the Christian Church had ever really been united. The pro statements were quite elegant for the most part as people spoke about the difference between "unity" and "uniformity," and how this debate is not about the "H" word everyone thinks it is. It's not about homosexuality, but honesty. The point being that there are many gay clergy in our church, but Gene has chosen to be honest about his life.

After all was said and done, the committee voted to recommend to the Convention that they affirm his election. That's good news, but just the first step. The House of Deputies (those elected by each diocese to attend Convention) will vote on this matter on Sunday.

On other matters: There will be another hearing tonight about sex (and no, that's not the only thing Episcopalians want to talk about). Tonight's hearing, slated for two hours starting at 7:30 p.m., is about a resolution being considered that would approve of the development of liturgical rites for blessing same-sex unions. Again, this should be "interesting."

Here's my hunch about what will happen with these two issues: Convention will approve Gene's election but reject the same-sex union proposal. I suspect this is the case because people will see it as a good old fashioned Anglican "compromise." But if it does happen that way, there will be some significant irony at work (as is the case with most Anglican compromises): We approve of having a bishop in a long-term, committed relationship but reject the development of rites that would bless his relationship. Welcome to the wonderful and wacky world of Anglican church politics.

It's really quite an experience to be here. Each morning, as we stream into the convention center, we pass by a long line of people stretching out in front of the convention center and each one has a piece of literature of some sort to give us. There's the "Convention Daily," published by Episcopal Life that gives the news from the previous day. But there's also shorter newsletters from various groups: "The Daily Encompass" (touted as "a witness of mainstream Anglicanism at General Convention," but which is really a very conservative publication); "The Center Aisle," the "publication of the Diocese of Virginia promoting core values of unity, love and witness"; "Every Voice News" (published by the Every Voice Network: Anglicans United for Justice)and many others. We also have to walk by the guy who is there every morning holding a HUGE banner that reads "The wages of sin is death" (that's a verse from Paul's letter to the Romans and this guy, apparently, thinks he's telling us something we don't already know).

Please pray for us here at Convention. Pray also for Gene Robinson. He must be exhausted (though he still looked calm, centered, and even joyful, despite what must have been some very difficult things to hear in the hearing this morning).

Your Faithful Sheep in Christ (who will need sleep upon his return),

Jay

Sunday, August 3, 2003: Gene Confirmed by Deputies

Dear Sheep:

Imagine being an African American person and sitting through three days of listening to white people say that your skin color is not God's will, that your full participation in the church is contrary to Scripture, and that being black and exercising leadership in the church would cause untold division and upheaval worldwide.

That's what it's been like for those of us who are gay or lesbian at this General Convention of the Episcopal Church. And actually, African Americans have been through that terrible kind of rhetoric quite literally in the past, as have women.

But today, my friends, after three exhausting days of such testimony (helped enormously by wonderfully articulate people arguing the other side of that issue) Gene Robinson was APPROVED by the House of Deputies to serve as the Bishop of New Hampshire. The vote was tallied just about ninety minutes ago.

I thought I would cry if the Convention failed to confirm his election. I didn't expect to cry if it was confirmed, but I did. So did many of us. We spontaneously gathered outside the convention center in little groups, not daring to say too much to each other for fear of breaking down completely, and just hugged each other and tried to smile as tears streamed down our faces.

This matter is not closed, however. The House of Bishops still has to concur with the House of Deputies. But many here do not expect that will be much of a hurdle, especially since he was approved by a much wider margin by the Deputies than was expected.

Frankly, I am exhausted. This has taken quite an emotional toll, as many of us were commenting to one other just a little bit ago. It sneaks up on you and when the vote came down, so did our defenses and we realized just how much we have felt assaulted and beat up over the last few days.

But this is how the church does its work and I wouldn't have it any other way. I mean, what's the alternative? A completely authoritarian model where just one person decides? Little splinter groups all over the place that never talk to each other and each doing its own thing? No. This is the hard work of forging community. We argue, debate, study, pray and vote. And there were good long bits of silent and spoken prayer in the House of Deputies today, which was PACKED to the rafters -- had to be thousands of people, including visitors like me in the gallery.

Now the other truly hard part also begins: To figure out ways to reach out to those who were opposed to Gene's election and see if we can still manage to stay together even as we disagree. This is the work of love, the HARD work of love, the kind of love by which the world will see that we Christians are different, that we don't stay together only when it's all sweetness and light or easy. No, we commit ourselves to the hard work of staying together when it's tough and ugly and draining. And believe me, that's precisely what gay and lesbian people have been doing for DECADES -- we've stuck with the church we love and in which we believe we belong because that's what love requires. Then, today, at long last, the church gathered in convention sends a clear signal: We are glad you stayed and we truly desire one of your own to serve in our House of Bishops.

It's very difficult to describe what that moment was like in the House of Deputies this afternoon. By the rules of order adopted by the Convention, there are no public demonstrations of applause, boos, or any other such divisive displays allowed. That's as it should be. This isn't a contest with winners and losers -- it's the hard work of love. So there was only silence in the hall after the vote was announced and then hugs and tears and smiles and truly grateful hearts, which we could feel all around us even without saying any words.

As I've mentioned before, there's much more going on here at General Convention than talk about sexuality, some very important issues being considered. But for now, this truly historic moment needs to be savored and reflected upon and given thanks for.

Your faithful, teary, tired, but thankful sheep,

Jay